1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the art of toys and game of skill and chance, and more particularly relates to the art of darts and darts-like games played by a plurality of players.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the past, the game of darts has been played where a dart board having indicia on its front surface is made from material which will receive and hold darts thrown into it. Typically, the indicia is a set of boundaries that define a plurality of areas each of which has assigned to it predetermined points, usually clearly marked. A plurality of darts are thrown by darters in series or, perhaps, alternately in turns. A darter's score is tabulated in accordance with the predetermined points for the areas in which his corresponding darts have adhered to the dart board. Hereinafter in this specification, references occasionally made to persons in the masculine gender are meant to include both the masculine and the feminine genders and, in all events, anything, whether animate or inanimate, which is capable of adhering objects under force to a board, as will be hereinafter described in greater detail.
Conventionally, once a dart has been adhered to the dart board, its position within the boundaries defined by the board's indicia is fixed for the duration of the game, or match. Darts may be of the traditional construction, having a sharp, pointed nose with a shaft having fins at its stern end, for stabilizing flight when it is launched or thrown, and for inserting into the dart broad with its pointed end with sufficient firmness to stay in the dart board until the dart is physically withdrawn by the darter. Alternatively, darts may be of the type having small suction cups at the lead end, so that when the darts is applied to the dart board under force, the suction cup will hold its dart to the surface of the dart board until the darter removes the dart from the board.
In more recent years, the traditional dart has been substituted by all manner of objects which are designed to adhere to a board. For example, a sphere or any shaped object having part or all of its surface area formed with a Velcro substance, with a receiving board surface having the complemental adhering surface of Velcro material has been used. Magnets thrown to a board having complemental magnetic field for accepting and adhering the magnets have also been used.
It has also been known to have dart board whose surface is rotated or is in a state of moving, so as to present a greater challenge to the darter to adhere his dart to a desired areas marked on the board.
In all such dart game configurations, once the darter has thrown the dart onto the board, the position of the dart in relation to the board's surface is fixed for the duration of the game and until the darter removes the dart from the board or other adhering board's surface. It is desired to provide a dart or dart like game and apparatus in which the target is dynamic and in which the position of the darts previously thrown are subject to relocation in relation to the indicia on the board's surface, in response to the play of other darters in the game.